Demesne 511 - Fanservice Bath Scene!

Mikon’s mind turned up nothing through the whole afternoon, which wasn’t really surprising. In hindsight, making music with Erzebed had left her feeling in need of her own polish, which had been very distracting when she’d been mostly thinking about Umu all afternoon, with her soft hair and her pale skin and round hips and narrow waist and slim legs and…

Well, she’d found herself distracted, and it was all she could do to spin properly as she went unpolished. Next time, she was just going to ring Erzebed properly and take a bath, and if that meant it was obvious to everyone what—or who—she’d done after lunch, then so be it. It wasn’t like everyone didn’t know who was spending their time doing that. There were people waiting for a turn in the Um all day. In hindsight, Mikon was a bit surprised that Binder Lori hadn’t forbidden that. Perhaps she thought that if she had, people would just start doing it all over the place again. That was probably it.

Unlike in the old workhouses, there wasn’t a bell or whistle that told people it was time to change shifts and they had three minutes to get out of the way for the people taking their places, and there was no sun to tell the time. However, there was always someone getting up to go to the latrines and could look out the entrance of the Dungeon, and so when it was late afternoon, everyone started finishing up and putting away their equipment. Looms were carefully lifted to not dislodge or ruin the half-finished cloth in them so the looms could be moved back into the alcoves for the night, while those close to finishing were moving as quickly as they dared.

There was no night shift to take over using the equipment, and the Dungeon needed to be ready for people if a dragon suddenly appeared, so everything had to be neat and orderly so that nothing would get in people’s way if they needed to take shelter. The carpenters were doing the same, although Mikon suspected that they wouldn’t be done for the night. They still seemed to be making some kind of design, and to be honest, what they were being asked to make was probably the sort of thing that needed a sleepless night on.

Everyone tried to look guiltless as Binder Lori passed by again with another large flowing rock, all trying to look like they were just heading to the latrine. Thankfully, she didn’t give them a second look beyond yelling at them not to get too close or else they might break their legs if they were hit by the rock as they all moved out of her way. Despite all the magical lights the Dungeon  Binder had placed outside of the dungeon, a lifetime of ingrained habits made people want to get all their errands done well before sunset, and in this instance that included things like going to the baths before dinner. Mikon kept pace with Umu as they both headed for home, even as she glanced towards the docks to see if Erzebed had come back yet. She hoped her woman got back soon.

They went inside, heading towards their bath buckets. Umu checked her bucket, then made a sound an turned towards the shelf where they kept the soap, among other things, and took two of the bars there and put one in her bucket. She held the other one out Mikon.

“Thank you,” Mikon said cheerfully, giving her a smile. She thought her own soap could last through the bath, but she didn’t want Umu to think her efforts were unappreciated. And besides, she might run out of soap in the bath. Umu mumbled something in reply, and checked her towel, smelling it before making a face but folding it up to put it in her bucket anyway. Mikon took the towel out, put the towel in the laundry pile, and replaced it with one of her own towels. Umu had glanced at her, but didn’t say anything, simply adding a new loincloth into her bucket for her to change into. Mikon politely faced the other as Umu tried to discretely smell the clothes she was still wearing to check if she could get away wearing them for another day. “Are you feeling well, Umu?”

“What?” came the confused reply.

“Are you feeling well?” Mikon repeated as she readied her own bucket as well as Erzebed’s like a good almost-wife. “You’ve been quiet all day, so I’ve been a little worried that you felt sick or something.” Soap, new loin cloth, a chest wrap because she’d still need to eat dinner afterwards, towels, a new shirt and trousers for Erzebed because she’d probably had a hard day being a temporary Rian… she put it in Erzebed’s for when she finally arrived, putting everything in neatly so that the bucket could be carried easily without anything falling out.

“I’m fine,” Umu retorted. “I just…—I’m fine.”

“I see. That’s good to hear.” She made a show of looking towards the laundry pile, which was a mix of neatly folded clothes and ones that had just been thrown into that corner. A part of her had been surprised when she’d realized that Erzebed was part of the former and Rian was the latter. Mikon had honestly expected it to be other way around, especially given how thorough and detailed Rian was when he worked around the demesne, but at home he was apparently the sort to just throw his clothes in the corner. At least he put his clothes with the other laundry and she didn’t have to pick them up everywhere. “We should probably do the laundry tomorrow, and maybe see if we need to add more down to the winter robes.”

Rian’s would definitely need new down in the lining of his robe since he used it so much, but it wouldn’t be too much trouble to get people to set aside some of what down there was left for him. Rian was generally well-liked, and people knew he didn’t allow the three of them to get away with things in his name. It was the kind of that made people trust and be proud of their lord, and also ruined some of the hopes and dreams a young girl had about somehow being able to marry into the nobility, like in the stories. Fortunately, Mikon was just prideful enough to appreciate the fact her man had such good, honest morals and so didn’t lament not being able to take advantage of her position as one of the lord’s woman… much… most of the time.

Umu frowned at the pile, then let out a small sigh. “Yes, it looks about time,” she agreed. “There should still be some down, I think… if not, we’ll have to hope there’s still some good straw or wood shavings.”

That last made Mikon frown as well. While wood shavings weren’t the worst—if they had the right kind of wood, the shavings could be used to keep away bugs—it wasn’t exactly comfortable. It was best for things like pillows and such. “They were able to bring in a beast yesterday, so maybe we’ll get some more down soon,” she said, the words more a wish than a hope.

“Maybe,” Umu agreed in both word and spirit.

Mikon finished her own bucket and picked it up, leaving Erzebed’s on the table where she’d see it when she arrived. “Well, I’m done. Come on, let’s go to the baths.”

Umu nodded absently as Mikon held the door open for her, the two falling into step as they headed for the bath house. Mikon smothered a satisfied smile at getting the blonde out of her gloomy silence. Now, she’d be able to—no, no, save those fantasies for later. Better to get Umu back into the normal flow of things and not spending her time longing for Rian so much.

The baths were beginning to fill as they arrived. As always, the children were already there, filling the air with the sounds of shrieking and laughter and the occasional reminder to stop running, although at this point it was really more ‘walking too fast’. It really made Mikon miss the little Lady Binder and Karina. The children all listened to those two, and were usually the first ones to remind their fellows to stop doing things that might hurt themselves, with the latter cheerfully organizing the children into a long line that washed each other’s back. Without them, the children were… well, not exactly ill-behaved, but clearly more disorganized.

Fortunately, they were able to find an empty shelf for their clothes and tsinelas, and Mikon didn’t even have to do anything to get Umu to share the shelf with her. As shows of trust and intimacy went, it wasn’t very deep, but it was still there! Umu still turned her back to Mikon when she undressed, but that seemed more habit than anything else, and Mikon didn’t think anything of it. Besides, the view from the back wasn’t so bad.

As such, she was perfectly willing to let Umu be in the lead as they entered the wet part of the bath house together, buckets in hand and bare feet stepping carefully on the wet stone floor. Lights glowed on the walls, placed so they were above the eyes when sitting and below when standing, while more lights glowed in the basin that was constantly filled with hot, clean water, wooden dippers sitting all around the basin’s lip, while a few more floated in the water, and a small stack of them were piled at the near end of the basin. However, their pursuit for a spot to bath at the far end of the basin was interrupted when a voice called out to them.

“Mikon! Over here!”

She managed to keep the twitch inside as she heard her Aunt Taji call to her from one of the stone tubs that when filled with water acted as a soaking pool. And of course she wasn’t alone. While the older twins hadn’t arrived yet, the younger twins Vidts and Gutsi, Termo, and Aliya—the youngest of her cousins, still a child and taking every advantage of it—were all there. Aliya’s sisters were trying to get her to stop floating like a corpse. Aunt Kasco was also absent, but that probably just meant she and Uncle Haqunoh were in their house making music before dinner.

She wished her uncle well, and beyond that didn’t let herself think on the subject any further. “Auntie,” she greeted. “Have you been there all afternoon?”

“Of course not,” Aunt Taji said, although the slightly evil-looking smirk on her face didn’t make that very believable, even if it was the closest she could get to a friendly smile. Her aunt had a triangular face and naturally sharp features that made her seem sly and conniving, which was quite unfortunate because she was one of the kindest and most motherly people Mikon had ever known. As she was unmarried and didn’t have any children of her own, she directed her affections at all her nieces, to mixed feelings. On the one hand, it was like having two mothers, especially since her aunts had never treated Mikon any differently from her cousins after her parents had died. On the other hand… it was like having two mothers, which meant it was twice as hard to try to get away with anything! “An hour at most. Would you and your friend like to join us?” Aunt Taji was one of the few people who didn’t give ‘friend’ a little twist as she said. Even her cousins sometimes said it like that—which had of course led to violence—but her aunts and her uncle had never done such a thing.

Mikon glanced at Umu, who looked away, clearly uncomfortable. “Maybe some other time, auntie,” Mikon said, holding up her bucket and shaking it. “We need to get washed up first, and Binder Lori will probably need us to get her food soon.”

Aunt Taji pouted in disappointment, which probably looked mocking and sinister, and Mikon hoped she wouldn’t need to explain how her aunt’s face was just naturally like that to Umu. “Some other time, then. Bring your other friend too. I’ve been hoping to talk to her properly.”

… well, that wasn’t happening. “I’ll ask her,” Mikon lied.

“Do it after you ring her—” was as far as Gutsi managed to say before Aunt Taji slapped her hand against the water and splashed a wave into her cousin’s face. Gutsi sputtered as tepid bathwater went into her open mouth. “Ugh, soap! Auntie!”

Aunt Taji winked at her, shooing them off as Aliya finally broke the surface to breathe. Mikon gave her a grateful smile, resolving to soak in the bath with her aunt tomorrow. “See you later, auntie. Come on, Umu.”

Internally, Mikon sighed at how Umu had pulled inward again, but at least she didn’t pull away as Mikon led them to a place at the basin big enough for the two of them. Kneeling down on the floor—there weren’t any free bathing stools nearby—and placing her bucket, she reached for one of the dippers and scooped up some of the warm water in the basin, pouring it all over her head.